Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Aug 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002apj...575..493j&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 575, Issue 1, pp. 493-505.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
39
Methods: Data Analysis, Stars: Planetary Systems, Techniques: Photometric
Scientific paper
Transit photometry is a promising method for discovering extrasolar planets as small as Earth from space-based photometers, and several near-term photometric missions are on the drawing board. In particular, NASA's recently selected Kepler mission is devoted primarily to detecting extrasolar planets. The success of these efforts depends in part on the ability to detect transit signatures against the inherent photometric variability of the target stars. While other noise sources such as shot noise and CCD noise are under the control of the instrument designers, this one is not. The photometric variability of solar-like stars presents a fundamental lower limit to the minimum detectable planet radius for a given star and number of observed transits. In this paper we examine the capability of such missions using bolometric data for the only star for which sufficient photometric precision exists to address this question: the Sun. The results indicate that solar-like variability does not prevent the detection of Earth-sized planets even for stars rotating significantly faster than the Sun. Four transits are detectable for mv=12 stars with rotation periods as short as ~21 days, while six transits allow detection for stellar rotation periods as short as ~16 days. Indeed, the limits posed by solar-like variability allow for the detection of planets significantly smaller than Earth orbiting Sun-like stars. Planets as small as 0.6 Earth radii exhibiting at least six transits can be detected orbiting bright (mv=10) solar analogs.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Impact of Solar-like Variability on the Detectability of Transiting Terrestrial Planets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Impact of Solar-like Variability on the Detectability of Transiting Terrestrial Planets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Impact of Solar-like Variability on the Detectability of Transiting Terrestrial Planets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1675474